For once ‘Babs’ is almost right! The sun in my life is arriving on Tuesday, my BFF will be here for our two-week PJ party, it most definitely will be an excellent time. Now before you think it, I do not believe in such bunkum as horoscopes etc but an idle curiosity to check out the absurdity often has me glancing if only to go ^yeah, right^ (Oww, look at me going all posh and using the sarcastrophy).

I’ve under estimated how much time the web work would take, I’ve also procrastinated at working at the desk, because the getting up situ is not progressing. *sigh* Okay so new plan while BFF is here is to get web stuff done and uploaded to the server and also to try again at getting stood up from desk.

With my 0-s*** birthday just days away, I’ve been looking for that special something, a statement piece that will be worn often. I think I have found it. I am looking forward to the sitting around the table together, eating hearty food and enjoying each other’s company.

You know, there is even the possibility that I might do some croches! I know, shocking, I’ve done one row since finishing the Christmas commissions.

There are only eleven days until my BFF comes to play I mean stay, yes stay. Always much look forwardededed to with electric anticipation. We plan tasty foods and we plan loads of films and things, we plan plans to stitch n bitch and sometimes actually manage to stitch too! But I have a rival, someone with whom I absolutely cannot compete with, he is such a courteous gentleman, he can melt you with just a blink of his mesmerising eyes, of course I am referring to ‘Mikey’ the not-my-cat who sits on my recycling bin ‘supervising’ kitchen activities and persuading to be let in.

Her imminent arrival also gives me the impetus to get on with the to-do list. So here we go, my list

Tidy/sort/chuck bathroom junk

Today/sort/chuck bedroom junk

Wash towels

Start big shop list of don’t forgets

Shift/bag loose balls of yarn

Tidy away untidied bedroom bits

Finish web album work

Type up pod cast article

Create contact page

I’ve slowly been catching up with the web work at my desk, I’m still trying to master getting up from my desk but I am no nearer success. There’s a lazy aspect in my brain, I psych myself up, get hands and chair in place, sit ready, take a deep breath and flop as the impetus flood away and despondency makes me change my mind and I end up doing the hip aching chair shuffle to the sofa.

When BFF is here I plan to ftp the album files to the server, a task that takes numerous hours and double checking of files to make sure it’s done it all proper like. So hence the deadline to get all the updates and info ready to be published.

Really looking forward to our two weeks PJ party, even if it does include my 0-heck golden gauged half century type birthday.

It’s not very often I feel vulnerable when at home, but when I am in bed in the dead of night, seeking sleep, and outside the wind is whipping and cracking, rocking and moving the wheelie bins, whistling at high pitch across the overflow pipes and window vent, I have visions of airborne debris catapulting into my bedroom window. I don’t have a mental plan of action, who do you call when a roof tile shatters the glass or half a tree branch shifts the sturdy bricks at stupid ‘O’ clock. Maybe it is something that creeps up on you as you age, experience erodes invincibility perhaps.

Storm Emma raged and roared unabashed, shifting the inches of powdered snow and freezing it to where it landed, pushing through the merest cranny to turn a whisper into a palpable icy draft. A couple of streets from me, a tree which has proudly stood at the corner of a bank car park for decades (if not a century) succumbed to the battering assault. Thankfully no person was hurt but a couple of cars were damaged (pictured above).

Today the world beyond my windows looks a picture of frosted innocence, just waiting for a moment of complacency to turn on you and test your resolve.

It’s March, in three weeks I reach a golden mile stone, where is Spring or the milder days of sunshine.

—Error was not discovered until after I had put my trousers on and I had stood up (a struggle)

—While making scrambled eggs the egg shell fell to the floor, as I moved to kick it out the way (I cannot bend down to pick anything up) crushed it into my big toe resulting in shell pushed under toe nail and squishy gunk on the skin.

—Fancied toast but when I opened the cupboard I discovered an onion shooting towards the stars, plus ‘someone’ tidied the contents and I cannot feel where it is (or bend down to see where it is)

—Tried making toast under the grill. Oh well, a bit of charcoal is good for the digestive system, right?

Even your Second Amendment states that the militia should be ‘well regulated’ but the non-militia can do as they please with their weapon of choice somehow exonerated of consequential responsibility (except their own moral compass). Any attempt to bring any form of control or conditions, (to some even a waiting period) is seen as an infringement of right.

The problem is not numbers, nor ages, oddly it is not even the gun. There are those who will quote statistics around deaths caused by drugs, alcohol, smoking, driving under the influence or texting while driving, heart attacks, strokes, diabetic conditions, air travel, swimming, all of which have ‘well regulated’ laws surrounding them, but the g-thing that’s in a completely different category of mind set.

So America, best trade in your hummers for armoured personnel carriers, don your flak jackets and helmets, up the g-s-w aspect of your medical insurance as it will never change, he/she/ze/it/they with the biggest more powerful weapon with a disregard for any life because they are aggrieved at something trivial will win.

Is there an answer? Of course there is, but no one will like it or agree it and by the time anything is discussed, decided, debated and passed to law, there will be a different president who can blame all the previous incumbents, a change of faces in the Senate and Congress …… and another few thousand graves filled.

Well that is the plan …. maybe. As many regular readers may remember I have a muscle wasting disease called fascia-humeral-humeral Muscular Dystrophy, it’s slowly getting worse rendering me weaker so simple tasks become a complete nightmare, some impossible. Skills and abilities, hopes and dreams have been taken away bit by bit.

Last year I began experiencing serious issues getting stood up from my desk. Now my desk is important to me. It is my link to outside life, other than the practical chores like paying bills or shopping for groceries or gifts or writing letters and emails, it is also my coffee shop where I interact with the world through social media, forums and such. It is where I create, code, make web updates, edit photos, write book reviews and blog posts and where I listen to music as I work. My mornings are usually spent at the desk dealing with business after that first cup of coffee. That was the issue that made the problem, a problem, because I’d need a wee. My ‘alternate’ route was to shuffle onto the dining chair, then scooch (technical term) across to the sofa, shift to the sofa, get up stood and trot off to the bathroom, sounds a palavar, it is when you are bursting! So I stopped being at my desk as much or for as long, which stopped me listening to music, which stopped me spending as much time creating, which stopped me writing letters and emails to family and friends, which had me putting off jobs! projects! research etc. I have my iPad but it’s not the same, there are things I need to do on my Mac at my desk.

It took a while to admit defeat, it took longer to try and seek an answer. I’m tired of investing hope to be disappointed, or struggling constantly for no reward. Anyway, I sourced a company who sent their physiotherapist to come visit me and evaluate my situation. Several hours later, after numerous getting ups to show my technique and what I hoped to achieve, he left and the next day sent me details and costs of a wizzy chair and desk. I was hopefully, but also realistic that even when it all arrived it would take several attempts, many many failed attempts, to get stood up from my desk in a reasonably straightforward consistent manner, like I do from the bed, the loo and the sofa (the only other spots I can get up from).

On Wednesday last week the desk, which can rise from knee height to standing working height and has preset buttons to automatically adjust to a height set to a particular millimetre, was built and installed with the new three draw unit beside it, the wizzy chair which rises up and down via a button touch, has wheelers that can be breaked, with arms that drop to be level with the seat, has a lockable swivel, as well as adjustable tilt, back rest, head rest, was wheeled in. I took a seat proudly……got comfy…..and then couldn’t get up. Okay, no prob, just need to get the feel, learn where the chair needs to be, learn and set the desk at just the right height and if not on the first go by the third it will be set. Erm, no. It ain’t happening, I ain’t progressing ….. it is annoying because I cannot sense what is going wrong, what needs to change to achieve the goal. Is it mental me expecting too much giving in too soon, menopause me with all sorts out of sorts, or MD me weakening have I left it too late.

*sigh*

Today I had my lunch at my desk, a list of got to get done jobs, played some favoured tunes to motivate and after a couple of hours tried getting up, couldn’t, so carried on getting more done, enjoying the fun of being at my desk. Then shuffled across to the sofa.

I’m sure there is a monkey in my hovel cluttering the place, I’m chasing him from room to room.

Before Christmas certain ornaments are put away to make room for the festive adornment, after Chtistmas the decorations are repacked and the ornaments put back (not necessarily in the same place, it’s a Big Sis thing), and there are the Christmas gifts to be homed and nibbles to be nibbled. This year I have new furniture coming, a desk and chair, so the old one had to be emptied, items sorted and graded as kept, to charity or ditched. Chaos ensued as the area was kept free to allow installation room, then things needed putting away. Not straightforward as the draws are of a different dimensions.

Finally the work station area is just about sorted, but now the ‘items’ in the bathroom seem to be growing, it’s another area that needs de-cluttering…… It should only take half an hour to resort and tidy the items (she says hopefully).

My bedside draws seem to have accumulated various items of clothing, books, bits and care (slight boo boo sustained across Christmas) on top of them, one of my wool bags got utilised and the wool needs putting in another bag. Things like that. But I feel hemmed in by the items awaiting attention.

As soon as I get one area straight, the clutter monkey seems to have found new stuff to leave else where. He’s a little devil!